TWO NATIVE DUTCH-SPEAKING STUDENT ASSISTANT POSITIONS AT THE MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR PSYCHOLINGUISTICS

Job description

We are seeking native Dutch-speaking student assistants to help with the Department’s ongoing research projects on different aspects of multimodal language. The successful candidates will be engaged in at least one of the activities listed below:

• Assisting with experimental data collection for a study on human-robot interaction
• Annotating Dutch multimodal data (e.g. speech, facial signals, gestures, text)

Requirements

Essential

• Native Dutch speaker
• Good fluency in spoken and written English
• Currently being enrolled as a student at Radboud University in a relevant Bachelor’s or Master’s program (e.g. Psychology, Linguistics, Cognitive   Neuroscience, Cognitive Science, AI or related fields)
• Excellent attention to detail and organizational skills
• Good time management skills

Desirable

• Experience with PRAAT and/or ELAN (however, training will be provided for all tasks)
• Experience having worked with linguistics tasks (speech, gesture) 
• Programming

What we offer you

• Position for 6 months with a start date of 15 June 2026 
• 10 hours per week (set according to the assistant’s study/working schedule)
• Salary: between €15.18 and €15.84 gross per hour (depending on education)
   

Application procedure

To apply for the assistant position, please use our application portal here. The application deadline is extended to April 30, 2026.

About the Multimodal Language Department

The Multimodal Language Department in particular aims to understand the cognitive and social foundations of the human ability for language and its evolution by focusing on its multimodal aspect and crosslinguistic diversity. The research at the department combines multiple methods including corpus and computational linguistics, psycho- and neuro-linguistics, machine learning, AI and virtual reality, and is concerned with various populations ranging from speakers of signed and spoken languages, young and older subjects from typical and atypical populations. The department provides opportunities for training in a range of linguistic, and conversational state-of-the-art multimodal language analysis (such as motion capture and automatic speech recognition), as well as neuropsychological, psychological methods related to multimodal language and frequent research and public engagement meetings, and support from an excellent team of researchers in linguistics and psycholinguistics.

About our institute

The Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Psycholinguistics is a world-leading research institute devoted to interdisciplinary studies of the science of language and communication, including departments on genetics, psychology, development, neurobiology, and multimodality of these fundamental human abilities.

We investigate how children and adults acquire their language(s), how speaking and listening happen in real-time, how the brain processes language, how the human genome contributes to building a language-ready brain, how multiple modalities (as in speech, gesture, and sign) shape language and its use in diverse languages and how language is related to cognition and culture, and shaped by evolution.

We are part of the Max Planck Society, an independent non-governmental association of German-funded research institutes dedicated to fundamental research in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, and the humanities.

The Max Planck Society is an equal opportunities employer. We recognize the positive value of diversity and inclusion, promote equity, and challenge discrimination. We aim to provide a working environment with room for differences, where everyone feels a sense of belonging. Therefore, we welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

Our institute is situated on the campus of the Radboud University and has close collaborative links with the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior and the Centre for Language Studies at the Radboud University. We also work closely with other child development researchers as part of the Baby & Child Research Center.

Staff and students at the MPI have access to state-of-the-art research and training facilities.